All around the world, millions of people are looking for love. Some swipe right, others left. Unfortunately, as Johnny Lee reminds us in his song, Lookin’ for Love we often go “looking for love in all the wrong places.” What would you say if I told you there is no greater love than the love of God? As a young child, I often sang a song in Sunday school that went something like this:
Jesus’ love is very wonderful X3 O wonderful love.
So high you can’t get over it, so low you can’t get under it, so wide you can’t get round it. O wonderful love.
This was obviously a feeble attempt to capture a love that defies description. It is a love so deep and so complex; it straddles both compassion and justice. God is love does not imply that there is no punishment for sin. God is love but he is also a God of justice; a justice that flows out of love. The Bible states, “…the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as a son (daughter) Hebrews 12:6.” God’s discipline is naturally tempered by love.
It is love that caused God to come down to earth and dwell among mere mortals; you and I and every other human being that ever lived or still lives or will ever live on this earth. Love caused him to leave the majesty of heaven to live among flawed and sinful human beings (John 1:14). It is love that compelled Jesus to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, preach deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set the prisoner free and preach the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4: 18-19). It is love that caused him to offer up his life on the Cross as reparation for our sins. In doing so, Jesus took upon himself all our sins, past, present and future and reconciled us to God and through the power of his shed blood he rendered sin completely powerless (John 19:30). Even the grave could not keep him down because love broke through leaving behind and empty tomb (John 20:1-18). And when it was time for Jesus to go back to the Father, this same love caused him to send the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, taking the guesswork concerning right and wrong out of our lives. Abiding in him and in his word allows us to dwell in his truth (John 14:16) despite the shifting standards on truth in this modern world. When the time is ripe, Jesus will fulfill his promise to come back and take his people home where they will dwell with him for all eternity (John 14:1-6). This, dear brethren, is perfect love, complete, unvarnished, unpretentious, sincere, immeasurable, eternal and utterly incredible! May this love find you and enfold you, wherever you are in your journey towards him. You cannot earn it; and you do not deserve it. No one does. It is completely free.
Loving Father, thank you for loving me, just as I am. I confess my sins and now proclaim you as Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for your forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. Thank you also for the Holy Spirit who now lives in me. Give me a fresh start today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.